A child star turned starlet, Elizabeth Taylor spent her early years in roles like “Lassie Come Home” and “National Velvet.” In the 50s, Taylor made her name in films like “Giant,” co-starring James Dean, “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” an adaptation of the play by Tennessee Williams. Taylor was romantically linked to Howard Hughes and married hotel heir Nicky Hilton, Mike Todd and later, Richard Burton (whom she actually married twice). Taylor has won two Academy Awards and championed the fight against HIV/AIDS.
Born in 1926 as Norma Jean Baker, Marilyn Monroe found fame in the 50s with roles in “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” and “The Seven Year Itch.” Monroe was a sex symbol, the very embodiment of the blonde bombshell. While her professional life in the 50s produced several films widely considered to be classics, her personal life was nothing short of tumultuous. Marilyn married baseball player Joe DiMaggio and after that marriage failed, playwright Arthur Miller. Monroe died in 1962 of a drug overdose.
Known for roles in “Rebel Without a Cause,” shot in 1955, and “West Side Story,” in 1961, Natalie Wood began her Hollywood career as a child actress, starring in “Miracle on 34th Street” at the age of five. The 50s also saw her in “The Searchers” with John Wayne. Wood died in a mysterious accident while at sea with her husband Robert Wagner and their friend Christopher Walken.
Born in Belgium in 1929, Audrey Hepburn’s early years were spent in poverty, delivering messages for the resistance movement during World War II. Hepburn studied ballet and dance in Amsterdam and London and went to New York to star in theater at 22. In the 50s, Hepburn starred in classic films like “Roman Holiday,” “Sabrina,” “Funny Face,” the Russian classic, “War and Peace” and “The Nun’s Story,” which earned her an Academy Award nomination. Hepburn contributed much of her time to humanitarian causes, especially with children.